Dwight, Ontario Ė April, 2010. Axiom Audio, builder of critically praised high-fidelity loudspeakers and home theater surround-sound systems for 30 years, has announced an attractive new series of dťcor-friendly on-wall speakers that simply hang on the wall and donít waste floor space.

The On-Wall M0, M2, M3, and M22 attach to Axiom's innovative dedicated Power Bracket, an easy-to-use mounting system that lets you simply slide the speakers into place: no messing around with wires, no contortions trying to see if you've got the right wire going into the right hole. The Power Bracket does it all for you, connecting the speaker to the speaker cables and mounting the speakers in one easy step.

The On-Wall VP100 and VP150 center channelsóthe On-Wall versions of Axiomís existing center channel speakers-- are supplied with Axiomís sturdy steel T-bracket that lets the speakers be mounted flush against the wall surface for a smooth unobtrusive appearance.

Available in all finishes, the Axiom On-Walls offer real sonic advantages to owners of new flat-panel plasma and LCD displays. The speakers can be ideally located to each side of a flat-screen TV, for an enhanced stereo soundstage that integrates seamlessly with the visual display.

The series begins with the compact On-Wall M0, and includes versions of Axiomís popular bookshelf models, even sporting the same model numbers: the On-Wall M2, M3, and M22, with on-wall center-channels VP100 and VP150 completing the lineup. The M0 is available now; the other models will begin production in May. To make ordering from its direct-sales on-line web site easy, Axiom has priced the On-Wall models identically with their standard bookshelf counterparts e.g., the On-Wall M2 costs $296US per pair ($296CAD), including shipping, just like its stand-alone bookshelf equivalent. Special real-wood veneers and paintable finishes are optional extras.

In developing the new On-Wall series, Axiom president and founder Ian Colquhoun noted: ďMounting speakers on the wall is a very convenient and esthetically pleasing option for a lot of rooms. Not everyone can or wants to cut big holes in their walls to accommodate an in-wall design. Our new lineup of on-wall versions of our bookshelf models allows this to be easily accomplished. In the acoustical design we were also able to adjust for the boundary effect of the wall behind the speaker, which is not possible with a bookshelf speaker since you never really know how it is going to be installed.Ē

The new on-wall series continues the Axiom tradition of neutral, uncolored sound quality with transparent highs and a natural midrange.

Its neat that you guys worked in the power bracket with the rest of M-Series. The power bracket concept and design is truly something unique in this industry - atleast that I am aware of. It has patent written all over it.

Wish you success with this product line!

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

The only other product(s) that would seem to fit within the concept of on-wall/in-wall category would be in-ceiling speakers.These products should certainly appeal to the WAF (wife acceptance factor) trend.

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

Bookshelf, On-Wall/In-Wall, In-Wall, On-Wall and In-Cabinet. I've read several 'professional' reviews and many 'amateur' reviews of the Bookshelf M22, but nothing solid on any of the others - either as stand-alone tests or as a comparison to the Bookshelves. Can anyone point me to tests like that? With so many variations some kind of comparison would be helpful.

Many of the models are quite new, particularly the on-wall and in-wall ones. I have heard the on-walls and the bookshelf models, but at nowhere near the same time, nor the same position/room. Still, I suspect the bookshelves, being freestanding, have better bass. The imaging from the on-walls is very, very good, though.

Now that these speakers have been released, I'd like to share some pictures I took of the on-wall M22s I evaluated. The speakers themselves are identical to the final version, but the bracket has undergone some refinements (which is why I'm not including any up-close pictures of the old version.)

The gallery includes some comparison shots to the bookshelf M22s. You'll notice I did not fish the wires through the wall, which I would go through the trouble to do in a permanent install location.

Soooooooooo how do the on walls compare to the bookshelf? Are they similar enough in sound quality that most would not notice a difference or is there enough of a drop in low end performance that it is noticeable and the onwalls MUST have a sub to sound as warm as the standard bookshelf? Hmmmmm, Hmmmmm, we're waiting.....

I'm also getting a pair of on-wall M22's today. I'm going to use some older speaker wire so I can a/b test them. I'm also one that believes that some speaker break in time is necessary first. Not much, just a couple of days of normal use.

My bookshelf M22s are about 7 years old. Besides the cabinet dimensions, they differ from the on-wall M22s in the tweeter and crossover. I really like the new tweeter. The top end of the on-wall sound is a definite improvement over my bookshelf M22s. The range where the bookshelf beats the on walls are in the lower midrange and bass, but the midrange differences depend on the material I'm listening to.

Like Ken mentioned elsewhere, the on-wall M22s image just as well as the bookshelves. I think they may even have better dispersion than the bookshelves -- again, owing to the newer tweeter. If I were comparing a new bookshelf to the on-wall, I'm pretty sure I'd pick the bookshelf. My wife, on the other hand, would pick the on-walls.

I think I would agree with your wife, at least for now. I'm trying to improve the looks of my living room and the on-walls are going to go a lot further in that department than the bookshelves currently do. They don't look bad, but the don't look like they belong there either.

I expected the crossovers needing to be changed to account for wall boundary. I guess I will just have to try it myself sometime or take the easy way out and just order another set of M22s and then use them in the garage.

The conversation we had with Ian was in regards to the M80's. Basically, a lot of parts to swap and it becomes expensive. M22's on the other hand.....

I have M22 V2's, and the new on wall 22's have a much better (to me anyway) upper end. I absolutely love the upper end of the on walls. Somehow they are both very detailed and smooth at the same time. I did not think this was possible.

I was quite impressed with the upper end of the on walls. I suspect that for those who purchase them it will be a very good idea to play with placement before securing them, and also play with crossover point. Certainly they do not have the bass that the bookshelves have, at least where I put them (very high on the wall, with no testing before I mounted them.)

I copied this message here from another place I posted it, because it goes along with this thread also.

I received the on-wall M22's today and got them installed, except for hiding the wires in the wall. To do that, I need an RF remote first so I can move all of the electronics and wires to the other side of the wall into a closet.

Cons: Less bass. Noticeable especially in music.

Pros: Better sound stage, possible because they are spaced a little further than I had them before and higher nearer the screen. I like the sound. One of the things I wanted with the bookshelf M22's was better highs. These have what I was looking for. Also they sound better than the bookshelf M22's paired with the VP100, nearly a seamless transition.

Can't wait to get a sub and see what kind of difference that makes.

Edit: almost forgot the picture.

Edit: Oh and one more thing, there is 47 inches between the speakers. I can move up from a 37 to a 47 inch tv which is about 46 inches wide.

I sure wish the wall color would reproduce correctly. It actually looks like a dark orange.

I've been informed that the designation on the EP800 will probably change soon. The usual Axiom practice is to change the model version after an accumulation of changes (not necessarily when they happen!)

Just spotted this over at Audioholics. Since last time I posted a link about Axiom from there it created a fire-storm I make the following disclaimer:

Before anyone gets their undies in a bundle this is a ďFIRST LOOKĒ (picture Dean making great big quotation marks like Dr. Evil with hands as he says that). Itís not a ďREVIEWĒ (big quotes again). Figure out the rest.

First they never said the on-walls are NOT ported. They were just speculating. They are going by the pictures I assume and probably not privy to the same information as you. I'm sure they go by the information given to them by the manufacturer. Its a first look of a product not a review. Sometimes there is not complete information, hence the speculation. Very common for "first looks" or press releases on a product.

Secondly, they stated that the power bracket had been revised/addressed after M0 review they did. I agree about having a accurate picture though. That would have been nice. But if they don't have one, what can you do? How do they know if there is a new picture if not given one?

Thirdly, they never stated in the press release that the grilles were magnetic on the on-walls. They did make reference to the M0's using magnetic grilles though.

It seems your interpretation on the press release is whats inaccurate.

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

If you reread my post, you'll see that I simply say that the article is somewhat inaccurate. I don't say they should know these things, just pointing out what I do know that would correct the article.

You get up on the wrong side of the brain this morning or something?

My reference to press releases was probably a tad out of line (if we are required to be polite to news outlets these days), but a number of articles I've seen on Audioholics in the past few years have been just that: press releases.

All I am saying is for articles such as the one we are talking about, the onus is on the manufacturer to supply the information. If there isn't complete information, then again thats on the manufacturer. In the article they speculated on information they did not know about which is very common for these types of "first look" articles. I wouldn't say the article has inaccurate information. It was not stated as fact.

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

Iíd be interested in seeing FR graphs for the various wall mounted speakers especially the new on-wall since they deviate the most from the basic standalone design. Especially interesting would be to see a anechoic plot compared to a on-wall plot to compare.

My interest is more than academic as Iím looking to buy something to replace my M22s in the back so I can move them back up front as wides. An on wall M2 or M22 might fit the bill since the shelf I was planning to build to set a normal speaker on would be right up against the wall anyway.

I wonder what the criteria would be to anechoically test an on-wall speaker. I mean, since it is designed as an on-wall application, do you test it in the chambre with a section of wall? how big an area? how thick? what material?

Alan!!!

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Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.

Inaccurate information is inaccurate information, regardless of the sourcing or whether it is presented as a fact or not. I didn't say they were flat out wrong, just that some parts of the article were inaccurate--which they are.

So there is a caveat at the beginning of the "first look" article that the author does not have all the complete spec/design information on the product at this time but goes to lengths to talk about all the different design possibilites the product "could" have when it hits the market. How is this inaccurate? LOL

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

I wonder what the criteria would be to anechoically test an on-wall speaker. I mean, since it is designed as an on-wall application, do you test it in the chambre with a section of wall? how big an area? how thick? what material?

I know there is a protocol for it. Not sure of the specifics of the build of the wall, but it's probably to contribute as little as possible to the FR of the speaker. The test is referred to as π anechoic, where as the normal test is 2π anechoic. That's because pi (π) radians is 180°.

Inaccurate data is inaccurate data whether or not it says it might be inaccurate.

This article is the case of incomplete information not inaccurate information. There is a distinction. You obviously have complete information. The article is speculating on the design options the product can take based on the information they have or are given during the period when the article was written. The only thing that can be considered as inaccurate information in that article is the picture of the power bracket that will be used for the On-Wall M2/M3/M22 versions since they even stated in the article that they were aware changes had been made to the design since the M0 review.

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

I know there is a protocol for it. Not sure of the specifics of the build of the wall, but it's probably to contribute as little as possible to the FR of the speaker. The test is referred to as π anechoic, where as the normal test is 2π anechoic. That's because pi (π) radians is 180į.

Thanks Chris. It only makes sense that they would test the speaker within itís specific design parameters. It would still be interesting and IMO useful to see FR graphs of the various in/on wall designs.

I'm arguing the point because I care. I have a great deal of respect for Audioholics as a audio/video media outlet and Axiom as a company and what each of them stands for. I also think it is silly to be critical of "first looks" of products that offer no objective value and are normally puff pieces that don't always have complete information of the final product. Product reviews on the other hand are a different story.

Audioholics was also influential in the branding of Axiom and exposure to the benefits of the internet business model - when this was quite new and still intimidating to the consumer. Audioholics offered Axiom with a great deal of exposure that trickled down into many other media outlets. They were certainly one of the major players to the marketing of the Axiom brand and the audio ID model in general. Much of the virality of Axiom products was during their M3 shootout, M22 and Epic 80 review in early 2000-2004 periods. So while you might not like audioholics as a media outlet, part of what Axiom is today and the exposure they receive is because of them.

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Iím armed and Iím drinking. You donít want to listen to advice from me, amigo.

I've had the IWOW M22 and listened for a short time leaning up against the wall, before sending them back for the OW M22 (Had problems in wall that caused me not to be able to install them.) I think that the IWOW had a slightly better bass extension, but memory may not serve me well here and they were not mounted in the wall.

I would like to use the new M22 on walls for the entire front LCR but I think using a M22 for the center below my 65" Panasonic will be too low. Can it be tilted up and or could I use a M3 on wall for the center? Is that a mis-match?Thank you,Tony

The M3's have a slightly different tone than the 5.25" woofered M2, M22. As CatBrat mentioned the M2 is the better match.

Are you talking about an on wall M22 and tilting that upward? If so the only way would be to build that section of the wall where the center will be mounted at the desired angle. The onwalls are meant to be mounted flat to the wall. This is the dilemma, lack of flexibilty of placement/mounting, when going with these aesthetically pleasing speakers over standard boxes.

Hello,I'm O.K. using the M2 with the mid-woofer section that low to the ground, assuming I can modify the installation to allow the tilting of the speaker upwards? I would even use the M22 but the bottom of the speaker would almost be at the floor. I know you want the tweeters as close to ear level as possible and at the same time all of the tweeters (LCR) at the same level or as close as possible. I have the ability to adjust the speaker elevation of the L / R speakers. Thank you for your advice / opinion.Tony

Hello,I'm O.K. using the M2 with the mid-woofer section that low to the ground, assuming I can modify the installation to allow the tilting of the speaker upwards? I would even use the M22 but the bottom of the speaker would almost be at the floor. I know you want the tweeters as close to ear level as possible and at the same time all of the tweeters (LCR) at the same level or as close as possible. I have the ability to adjust the speaker elevation of the L / R speakers. Thank you for your advice / opinion.Tony

Yes, you would want to have that section angled up. I would run a string from the mounting position of the tweeter to the main listening position (ear level) and then you can calculate the amount the bottom mounting area will need to be out from the wall to achieve a right angle where the string is.

It is not super critical to have all the tweeters at the same level, I think it does sound a little better but I have also had my center channel a few inches down from the ceiling angled down to the listening position and it sounded great too. Here are a couple of pics from my old house with M22's as mains then with M80's